If you'd like to find your place in 2 Kings chapter 13, 2 Kings chapter 13, I trust you've had a good Mother's Day, and I trust you spent it in the house of God. There's no greater place to be than to be with your family in the house of the Lord. And I tell you, we ought to strive to be there every time the doors are open. And if you're listening to this by the way of the internet, maybe you were not able to come in. and be with us on Sunday afternoon. But you know, there's nothing more important than worshiping our Savior. There's nothing more important than gathering ourselves together. And the Bible says so much the more that we ought to assemble ourselves together. Why? So that we can hear from God. And I want that unfeigned faith that we heard about this morning. and that was found in Lois and Eunice. Unfamed faith, real. I mean, they were the real deal. You weren't gonna catch them doing anything worldly during the week. They lived what they believed. Now, I'm gonna tell you, we need a revival of that today. But we're gonna kind of switch gears here and have a lot of young people that join us. We run our buses on Sunday afternoon. That's our evening service that we run in the afternoon time. And we have adults and children that join us in the service, and we're so thankful for them being here. But I'm gonna kind of switch gears a little bit, and the title of this message is Don't Hold Back. Don't hold back. God wants to use you in a great way, but he'll never use us no more than we make ourselves available. You understand, we have to make ourselves available. We have to trust Him. We have to be obedient if we want God to use us in greater, if we want greater blessings. It all comes back down to just trusting God and obeying His commandments and making ourselves available for the Lord. If you'd like to find your place in 2 Kings chapter 13, 2 Kings chapter 13, It says, now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness, whereof he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took unto him bow and arrows. And he said to the king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it, and Elisha put his hands upon the king's hands. And he said, open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, shoot. And he shot. And he said, the arrow of the Lord's deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria. For thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek till thou have consumed them. And he said, take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice and stayed. And the man of God was wroth with him and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times. Then hast thou smitten Syria till thou hast consumed it. Whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice. I'm not going to lie, I used to struggle with this passage. I mean, I really did. I'll just be honest with you, I kind of felt sorry for old Joe Asher. I mean, he probably wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. And you know, I can kind of relate old Joe Ash there for a little while, and you know, sometimes it's kinda hard, you know, if it ain't just clearly explained to me, it's just kinda hard for me to get a hold of things, and I'm not gonna lie, I mean, I felt sorry for old Joe Ash a little bit. But you know, that's only till I become a supervisor when I had a secular job, and I was a supervisor, and one of my duties as a supervisor was to rate people based on their performance evaluations. And everybody had the same set standard that they were to meet. Everybody had their rules. Everybody had their regulations. Everybody had the same code of conduct that was expected of them. Everybody had to, and if they wanted a better review than just meeting, you know, the regular criteria or just being a good employee, if they wanted to exceed there and do better, then they were going to have to excel and go above and beyond the requirements that were just duty. You understand that? They had to go above and beyond that and gonna have to do more than what was just meat. And I kind of got to understanding this passage at that point in time. The Bible says that he struck it thrice and he stayed. That right there is good enough. He settled for good enough when he could have had it all. Too many times we stop or we quit or decide that we've tried enough and we miss out on seeing something good happen in our life. Some people, some students will only study enough to pass the test. They don't care to make an A. They don't care to make a B. They don't care to make a C. They just want enough to pass the test. Some people only work hard enough to get a paycheck. but then they'll be the first ones to complain when they're passed over for a promotion. There's some athletes that'll work really hard to make the team, but as soon as they make the team, they lay off getting stronger and better. and they never make the first string. Oh, how many times have we gave up praying for a certain person or situation and had we just kept praying, God would have given us the answer to the prayer. Here in the passage, a Bible that describes, it's describing here what I'm saying. Elisha told King Joash to take the arrows in his hand and smite them on the ground, but instead of striking the arrows many times, he stopped after three. One arrow had given him the victory over the Syrians in Aphek. Just think what other victories he could have had had he just kept on striking the ground. Elisha said, you could have had total victory. but you settled for only three. I wonder how many arrows has God placed in our hand and wants to bless us and give us the victory, but we're just not willing to fully trust him now. This passage is a passage of faith. Everything that's taking place has to do with future victories based on present obedience. If you want God to bless you and give you the victory in the future, then you'd better trust and obey him today. Joash settled for a partial victory instead of trusting God fully. How many people will go to church and hoping that God will do something for them, but nothing happens as quick as they think it should. So you know what they do? They just quit going. They just stop obeying. They just give up. Oh, you know, that ain't no use. Ain't nothing going to change. So they just give up. They just settle maybe for a partial victory. How many have come to church? and ask God to help them, and as soon as God meets that need, they quit. They give up on God until something else happens in their life. God could have spared them from many other things happening in their life, but they settled for a temporary fulfillment. I wonder, what arrows has God handed you? How about the arrow of prayer? We've all been handed an arrow of prayer. The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing. Well, how many times have we fell short of putting all our trust in him? And you know, our trust in him can be verified and can be seen through our prayers. Through our prayers. How many times have we failed to go back and back again until God comes through for us? Boy, we just need to keep striking the ground. We need to show our resolve to just trust and obey God, and God has handed each one of us an arrow of prayer. We better keep praying for that wayward child. We better keep praying for that lost loved one. We better keep praying for that health problem. We better keep praying for that great need in your life. Whatever it might be, you need to keep praying for direction in your life. Well, how many teenage Christians have already made up their mind what direction they're going to take? And they've already quit praying for God's direction in their life. They've settled for what they want, and now what they're doing, they're trying to get God to bless the decisions that they've made. I remember this man in our young Sunday school class, young adult Sunday school class, and we'd have prayer requests before Sunday school and before the teacher would begin teaching, and this young man said, hey, I made up my mind, I want to ride a bull. And of course, we was all half asleep at that point in time, and that kind of woke us up. You know, I said, he wants to do what? And he said, I want to ride a bull, and I want y'all to pray for me. I need y'all to pray for me because, you know, I don't want to get hurt. And somebody spoke up and said, no, he ain't going to pray for that. We're going to pray to God to give you some sense that you don't get on that bull. But you see, he'd already made up his mind. And he just wanted God to protect him, even though we all know that was not the will of God for his life. The prodigal son had already made up his mind he was leaving, that he was going to go to that far country. Demas had already made up his mind that he was going to Thessalonica and enjoy the comforts of this world. How many young people? You're gonna choose a career path. And then you're gonna want God to bless your efforts. But God never meant for you to take that path. Oh, I wanna marry a certain person. But they know good and well that that person is not who God wanted and that's who they wanted. And now they want God to bless what they want versus what he wants. I've had young people come up to me and say, help me pray about God's will for my life, you know, that God show me, you know, what he wants me to do and all that. I'd always have to go back to what are you doing right now for the Lord? Because if you're not doing what you're supposed to be doing right now, there's no use you wondering if God's gonna give you direction for a year from now or two years from now, three years from now. My first question, do you obey your parents? Because if you're not obeying your parents, if you're not honoring your mother and your father, then you can go ahead and give up on God showing you something for two years down the road. You're not even taking care of the business you're supposed to be doing right now. I said, do you read your Bible? Do you pray? Are you faithful to church? Do you witness? Are you telling others about Jesus? Oh, preacher, pray for me. I want to know what God's will is. I've kind of set my mind. I want to go here, go there. But I need God to direct me. Well, what about what God requires of you? Are you even doing that? Joash missed out on future victories because he failed to trust and obey God in the present. How many Christians will miss God's future prayer victory simply because they failed to strike the ground in the present? They settled for one answer when they could have had many more. Oh, if I could just get through this, I'll be fine. Oh, if God will just help me get through this thing, I'm going to be alright. I'm going to be okay. Oh my, that's not showing much faith. That's not showing much trust or obedience in the Lord. That's just wanting to get by. It's kind of like Joe Ash did. He missed out on future victories because he stayed instead of going further with God. Number one, God has given us an arrow of prayer. Can I ask you, are you striking the ground with it? God has given us an arrow of his word. Well, what are you doing with God's word? In Psalms 119 and verse 105, it says, thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Boy, how many people will settle for just a little bit of light? I mean, they're just going to settle for a little bit of light. They're okay with just the Sunday morning light. They're okay maybe with the occasional little devotional or maybe something they listen to, a song they listen to on the internet, but yet they refuse to go deeper in God's Word. They refuse to have the light of God shine on their life. And boy, they just settle. They settle, those people like this. They're like that because they're not walking in the light. They're not walking in God's word. They're up and down, up and down. Why? It's because they're not doing what God requires of them right now. Psalm 1 says that if I delight myself in the word of God and make his word the meditation of my heart day and night, then I'll have great benefits that come from that. I'll grow in the Lord and I'll never run out of spiritual food. Matter of fact, I'll prosper even in bad times. Hey, I'll have fruit in abundance and God will bless me in the good times and the bad times. In fact, I'll stay the same. I won't change no matter what's coming my way. Matter of fact, the fruit's not gonna decrease, it's gonna increase, and God's blessings is gonna be evident in our life. You know, every week, we're giving at least four arrows. Four times where the doors are open to this church for Sunday school, Sunday morning, Sunday afternoon, and Wednesday night. The Word of God is being opened, but yet some people, they only choose to strike once. That's all I want. I don't want no more than that. I just want to come and get my little quick fix. I just want to come and get that little bit because, you know, I've got a Sunday afternoon and Monday through Saturday, I've got all these things I want to do, but I'm going to give God. I'm going to show up to Elisha there and, oh my, oh my, I'm here to show reverence and I'm here to do all this and then I'm just going to strike that one arrow, but that's all they want. But you know, God could give you so much more. Problem is, they don't want it. Joash didn't want it. It's not that he didn't understand, he just didn't want it. He was satisfied with being, I'm not gonna say mediocre, but he was just satisfied with a partial obedience, which only gave him partial victories. Number three, how about that arrow of witnessing? You know, every day we're given an arrow of witnessing. Our testimony is an arrow of witnessing. Our life is an open window for every person to look into. Do they see us telling others? I wonder what people see in you. Do they see you telling others about Jesus by the way that you live, by the way that you dress, by the way that you talk, the things that you listen to, by who you hang out with? I wonder, our young people that ride our buses, how many of you would like to see the rest of your family come to church with you? How many of you would like for your family to come and be part of this church? Maybe they're not saved and you'd like for them to be saved. Can I ask you this? Do they see a difference in you when you come back from church? Can they tell that you've been to church? Can they tell that you've been closer to him? You hear of people coming right out of church, young people getting on the bus and just completely acting like they shouldn't be acting. You can't even tell they've been to church. There's something wrong there. I wonder, what does your family see? They just see the same old person that left to go to church that came back from church? Acting up, disobeying, being rude, just acting the same way you were before? Do you think they're going to want the Lord? Do you think they're going to want what you have? No. You cut on the same music as you did before. You talk the same way. You go right back to hanging out with the same people you did before you went to church. Acting just like you did before you got on the church bus. Some of you adults, as your family and social media friends, do they see someone who is consistently trusting and obeying God, separated, living holy, presenting their bodies a living sacrifice? Or do they see a person who is one way on Sunday and a totally different person Monday through Saturday? What are you doing with the arrow of witnessing? Do you share the gospel with anybody? I mean, how's your testimony? Joe Ash's lack of striking the arrows, I'm gonna tell you, you know what it did? I tell you, it brought discouragement to Elisha. Matter of fact, Elisha was disappointed at Joe Ash's lack of commitment and faith. Imagine how the Lord fails when we don't exercise trust and obedience in him. But I wonder, who are we discouraging? because of our lack of commitment and our lack of trust and obedience to just keep striking. How about that arrow of faithful service to the Lord? The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 4, 2, moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. You know what God rewards? He rewards diligence. He rewards those that will just press on and keep going. In Philippians 3 and verse 12 it says, "...not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus." I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before," he said, "'I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.'" If we're going to hear well done, then we're going to have to stay at it. There's no time to stop. Now, I like what Paul said in 2 Timothy 4 verse 6, "...for I am now ready to be offered in my time my departures at hand." He said, I fought a good fight. He said, I finished my course. I've kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day. And not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me. Until our time is over, we must keep pressing on. There's no retirement in the service of the Lord. This lady, and I don't know if she's still living now or not, but she told my mom, she said, I'm about to retire from my job, so I'm not gonna be able to teach Sunday school anymore. She had a little kids class, and she said, I'm retiring, and I'm gonna have to quit teaching because I've got plans. I've got things that I want to do now that I'm retired. When do you retire from serving the Lord? And how many people says, oh, I mean, it's all about themselves. It never was about the Lord. It was always about them. So you see, she had plans, but she didn't care what God wanted. She was gonna do what she wanted to do. Boy, that arrow of faithful service. How about that arrow of forgiveness? The Bible says, and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. You know, showing forgiveness is a great arrow in the arsenal of the believer. I want to tell you what, there's nothing like forgiving somebody that's done you wrong, to show a great testimony of what God has done in your life and what God can do in theirs. That's what Jesus said on the cross. He said, Father, forgive them. There's no greater testimony of love. Father, forgive them. I forgive you. Yes, you've done me wrong. Yes, I may not get reparations or I may not, but I forgive you for what you did. Boy, that shows the love and mercy of God. That shows God's grace right there. How about the arrow of giving of our time, our talents, and our treasures? Boy, how much does God really have of us? I mean, really, let's just be honest. How much of our time, our thoughts, our desires, our treasures have we made available to the Lord? Or we kind of like Joe Ashen, we'll strike once. I'll give him a tithe, and I'll show up Sunday morning, but boy, don't you ask nothing else from me. You're limiting yourself from further victories and being used of God in a greater way. How about the arrow of praising Him? The Bible says, let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. Well, I tell you, how many times have we failed to praise Him? I mean, we had our arrows full. We had so many things that we could praise Him for, but yet we didn't choose to pull one out and strike the ground. How about that old arrow of thanksgiving? The Bible says, be ye thankful. Joshua, God gave Joshua a blank check, but he settled for just a little. Hey, let's not just check the boxes. Let's not just say, well, I did this, I did that, and settle for less than what God has for us. God's victories are waiting on the other side of our trust and obedience. Let's just keep striking the ground until God says it's enough.